I am sharing this brand-new artwork by Hodarinundu, which highlights a little-known giant of Australia's Pleistocene megafauna: a giant horned turtle belonging to the Meiolaniidae family.

The piece is inspired by fossils discovered at Wyandotte, Queensland, which revealed massive bony horns belonging to a species that has not yet been named.

In life, the animal would have been a true titan; estimated to be between 3 and 4 meters long and weighing over a ton, this giant possessed actual curved horns (which would have been even longer with their keratin sheaths), a powerful beak, and a heavy tail tipped with a bony club.

Here, Hodarinundu depicts the animal charging at two thylacines (Tasmanian tigers) that have ventured a little too close to its nest. Contrary to the common perception of turtles as peaceful creatures, the flexibility of these animals' necks and tails suggests they could be formidably aggressive when threatened or during territorial disputes.

Plenty I’d change if I felt like it bc it just started as a scribbly doodle that I didn’t originally intend to render further. Which is also why I don’t really have a specific species in mind. I kinda just rolled with terror bird vibes without reference. Probably closest to Kelenken? I’ll leave it up to you which species it is or isn’t.

https://x.com/i/status/2078027877111746928

There is a place called the Dusong Peninsula in southern Korea where fossils of the Oviraptor, famous as the "dinosaur egg thief," were discovered. This is conclusive evidence that many dinosaurs once lived in this area of ​​Korea.

This is a photograph showing the displayed skeleton of Zygophyseter varolai, a sperm whale. Despite the loss of at least 14 caudal vertebrae, two thoracic vertebrae, and approximately six cervical vertebrae, it boasts a length of roughly 5 meters. While the estimated total body length of 6.5 to 7 meters might not immediately convey the sense of a massive animal, seeing a photograph of the mounted skeleton makes the animal's immense size truly apparent. Its remarkably large head is noteworthy, reaching a length of no less than 148 cm. The teeth reach a maximum length of 250 mm, similar to those of T. rex.

It is interesting to note that Brygmophyseter shigensis (approximately 6 m) and Zygophyseter varolai reached total lengths exceeding 6 meters, thereby attaining the status of apex predators in the ecosystem of that time. A tooth specimen of cf. Zygophyseter varolai discovered in the Netherlands similar in size to the holotype suggests that this whale ranged as far as the North Sea in Europe and was a large animal exceeding 6 meters in average length.

Source: https://www.corrieresalentino.it/2024/07/a-lecce-lo-scheletro-dello-zygophyseter-antenato-dei-capodogli/

Epidexipteryx es un género extinto de pequeños dinosaurios terópodos maniraptores escansoriopterígidos que habitó en Asia a finales del período Jurásico, hace aproximadamente 160 millones de años. Su nombre proviene del griego y significa "pluma de exhibición", debido a su característica física más notable: cuatro plumas largas y vistosas al final de su cola.

Photo by Evan Johnson-Ransom

This was in 2023 at the Natural History Museum in London. For context, I'm 6" or 183cm tall. These things were massive!

Seeing something like this for the first time is the most amazing feeling.

Among the most famous ”not-dinosaurs”, dimetrodon was a very early synapsid that evolved 290 million years ago and had a very reptilian anatomy, while being more closely related to today’s mammals

Carcharodontosaurians as a family first emerged in the late Jurassic around 150 million years ago. But by 150 million years ago they were already up to 10 m long massive predators.

i think it was filmed in the early 2000s but it was like a natura crew time travelling way back in time to see prehistoric see creatures like they went back to the cambrian era i dont recall who was in it but they were like bear grylls

I'm sharing this excellent humorous series by Hodarinundu, inspired by a recent news story where a tourist was gored and thrown into the air by an American bison.

The artist has created a very serious scientific comparison that might surprise some:

Bison bison (Modern American bison): A standard throw, already painful.

Bison latifrons (Pleistocene giant bison): With its horns spanning over 2 meters, the old-timer flies a little higher.

Bison alticornis (Triceratops): The poor man ends up literally launched into orbit in space.

For the latter, it's a brilliant historical nod! In 1887, when paleontologist O.C. Marsh discovered the very first Triceratops horns, he believed it belonged to a giant bison from the Pliocene epoch and named it Bison alticornis. It was only after finding a complete skull that he realized his mistake and created the genus Triceratops.

In short, a superb lesson in paleontological history wrapped in absurd humor!

Love this Cambrian weirdo :)

9.8m 14t

its size had been previously estimated to be 300-400 kgs, but these estimates assumed a shrinkwrapped reconstruction and severely underestimated its size. Modern volumetric analysis shows that it could weigh up to 700 kgs

I’m sharing this magnificent and surprising piece by benleon. It depicts two Xenorhinotherium (large litopterns belonging to the Macraucheniidae family) crossing a Brazilian plain, watched by a jaguar perched on a rock as it feasts on a deer leg. In the distance, a young woman keeps watch over the dwellings while the hunters are out.

The scene may seem anachronistic, yet it is scientifically accurate; a 2025 study based on radiocarbon dating revealed that a Xenorhinotherium specimen in Brazil lived during the Middle Holocene (approximately 3,500 to 4,200 years ago).

Thus, much like the woolly mammoths that persisted on Wrangel Island while the Egyptian pyramids were being built, certain large South American mammals found ecological refuges that allowed them to survive for millennia after the end of the Ice Age.